Day 37 Malham to Horton in Ribblesdale

I'm sitting in the Pen-y-Ghent cafe waiting for the bunk room in the pub down the road to open. I've already had 4 hot crumpets drizzled in butter and a gigantic mug of tea. Now I am having a coffee and waiting for my sister Lesley to join me. She decided at the last moment to come and be my next walking companion on the trail.

This cafe is really quite famous and has been open since the Pennine Way officially opened in 1965. They have volumes of large books where Pennine Wayfarers have signed in over the years. I signed my name too and noticed that another chap had also come up from Lands End, had started a week after me and was in this cafe yesterday. So I am not the only nutcase undertaking this kind of thing.

I had been thinking that the end of the Pennine Way, just over the Scottish border, may be the end of my walking for this summer too. I still have a long way to go through Scotland and I don't think I will have enough time to make it to John O'Groats. But now after seeing that entry in the book, well, I am obliged to keep going. I can't have that guy get there before me. Not that I am competitive or anything. My sister-in-law, loves to remind me of a quote I made to her some years ago "I am not competitive, I just love to come first"

Another FYI.....

When I open up my blog now and see the title "Ali's Mid Life Crisis", I can't help but think, what crisis? I am definitely not in any crisis, far from it and don't think I ever have been. I did feel as though I was at a cross roads in my life and needed to make some changes both physically and mentally. That, plus my overwhelming desire to get away from it all and walk for miles and miles must surely have meant I was in The mid life crisis.

I have successfully walked all my issues away. And my blog now has the wrong title :)

Today I climbed to the highest point on the Pennine Way at 694m. In fact the path took me over two of the highest peaks in Yorkshire making it a tough day.

Initially the trail took me right up to the base of Malham Cove, that impressive lime stone cliff I mentioned in my previous blog. Apparently at the end of the Ice age a river would have poured over this cliff forming a mini Niagara falls, right here in Yorkshire. The trail then ascended steep lime stone steps to get on top of the cliff and I thought for sure that I would hurl my YHA breakfast up.





The trail continued to ascend and took me past the bleak and desolate Malham tarn and on up to Fountains Fell. The guide book says that I was supposed to enjoy the magnificent views from here - NOT. I was in the mist. But it wasn't raining so all was good.






One thing that has amazed me on this trip is my ability to enjoy my own company. I don't usually you see. I have always needed to be with others to feel comfortable. Well, not anymore because I can walk for hours on my own, not see a soul and love it. The more isolated I am the better.

As I descended down Fountains Fell and out of the mist, my next challenge became visible, the summit of Pen-y-Ghent. This peak is one of the highest in Yorkshire and it looked Everest like from my perspective.





[my camera died again at this point-will have to consider the possibilities of a new one]

The Pennine way climbed right up the rocky side of Pen-y-Ghent and by the time I had ascended and then descended the other side, I was absolutely shattered. The long walk along a bridle path into Horton on Ribblesdale was painful and endless.

Which is why I am so happy to be in this cafe right now.

The pub and bunk house eventually opened and I decided to take a shower before Lesley arrived. The following chain of events then caused me a great deal of amusement for the rest of the evening.

I could not get out of the bunk house. I tried the door handle every which way, but it appeared to have locked behind me. I was imprisoned, alone, within the walls of a dark and primitive bunk house. It smelt of old socks and wet rucksacks with bunk beds and plastic stained mattresses stacked to the ceiling. Earlier I had been glad to find out Lesley and I were the only ones booked in for the night. Now I wished there were forty other people in the bunks. I could be stuck in here for days.

But then I remembered that Lesley was meeting me in the pub and would come to my rescue when I didn't show. Luckily my phone for once actually had a signal and doubly lucky, I had the pub phone number. So I was rescued and set free to find that Lesley had just arrived in the pub. This caused us a big giggle as we feasted on veggie lasagne's










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